United Nations: India has slammed Pakistan for its “baseless and deceitful narratives” as Islamabad’s envoy made references to Kashmir in the UN General Assembly. “Earlier in the day, one delegation misused this forum to spread baseless and deceitful narratives, which is not a surprise,” Minister in India’s Permanent Mission to the UN Pratik Mathur said on Tuesday. “I will not dignify these remarks with any response, just to save the valuable time of this august body,” he said. Mathur was delivering India’s statement at the UN General Assembly debate on the Annual Report of the UN Security Council.
His retort came after Pakistan’s UN envoy Munir Akram made references to Kashmir in his remarks from the General Assembly podium during the debate. Pakistan regularly raises the issue of Jammu and Kashmir at various UN platforms, irrespective of the subject matter being discussed or the theme of the forum and fails to get any support or traction. India has previously rejected Pakistan’s attempts to raise the Kashmir issue at international forums, asserting that the “Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the Union Territory of Ladakh have been, are and will always remain integral and inalienable parts of India.”
Pakistan’s Dy PM’s sends “positive” message to India
India’s firm reply came on the same day when Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar sent a “positive message” to India and said his country does not believe in “perpetual hostility” and urged the new government in New Delhi to do a “sober reflection” on its future ties with Islamabad. Addressing a seminar at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI), the 74-year-old Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader said Pakistan always sought “good neighbourly relations”.
“To our east, the relationship with India has historically remained troubled. Pakistan does not believe in perpetual hostility. We seek good neighbourly relations with India on the basis of mutual respect, sovereign equality, and a just and peaceful resolution of the long-standing Jammu and Kashmir dispute,” Dar said. The foreign minister said while Pakistan had always been receptive to “constructive engagement” through dialogue that includes all outstanding issues, Pakistan would never agree to “unilateral approaches or attempts to impose India’s will or hegemony”.
It is worth mentioning Pakistan downgraded its ties with India after the Indian Parliament suspended Article 370 on August 5, 2019, a decision that Islamabad believed undermined the environment for holding talks between the neighbours. India has been maintaining that it desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan while insisting that the onus is on Islamabad to create an environment that is free of terror and hostility for such an engagement.
(With inputs from agencies)
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